Consequences and hope are the two things school systems throughout the United States are using to encourage students of all ages to stay in school and off the path of truancy – a path that many times can lead to poverty, unemployment and jail.
The unemployment rate for those who don’t earn a high school diploma is eight percent compared to 5.4 percent for those who have one and 3.8 percent for those with an associate’s degree, a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report from 2015 says.